This delicious orange-scented rye bread was shared by Nancy B., who said, “My mother was Swedish, from a small town in New York, which had a large Swedish population. My aunt’s in-laws ‘adopted’ us also, and every year for Christmas, [we] all got together for the Swedish smorgasbord. We grew up loving the Swedish food, and when I grew up, I learned to bake my favorite, Swedish Limpa Rye Bread.”
Place warm water and molasses in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle yeast over the water and let sit for 5 minutes while the yeast activates.
Add wheat and rye flours, brown sugar, orange zest and salt to the yeast mixture and mix until a shaggy dough forms. Add butter and continue to mix until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead for about 10 minutes, or until you can stretch a small portion of the dough into a thin membrane (this is called the “window pane test”). Add more wheat flour as needed if dough is too sticky. If you are using an electric mixer, knead for 4 minutes on medium speed with the dough hook attachment.
Place dough in a clean, oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, cover and let rise another 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly oil a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
Place dough on a lightly floured counter and shape into a loaf. Place loaf in the prepared pan, cover and let rise for 30–45 minutes, or until the dough crowns nicely above the pan and gives with a gentle press of the fingers, leaving a faint indentation.
Bake for 50–60 minutes until golden-brown and hollow sounding when tapped. The internal temperature should be between 180–200°F. Cool on a wire rack.
Bread Machine
Add the ingredients to the bread pan following manufacturer’s instructions. Bake on machine’s basic wheat bread setting. Check dough before final rise and, if necessary, adjust its placement in the pan for level height during baking.